2018 Dates: 1/20, 2/17, 3/17, 4/21, 5/19

90 Hours - Comprehensive Lactation Education

Above Dates Plus: 6/16, 7/14, 8/18, 9/15, 10/20

Taught by local, experienced IBCLCs, our program has been built from scratch to cover all areas of the IBLCE Exam Content Outline to ensure that our attendees have a well-rounded and thorough background in human lactation. Join us in 2018, our 6th year of bringing together local individuals who are passionate about improving the quality of breastfeeding support in our community. There are NO prerequisites to take this course and it is appropriate for any individual with a high school diploma or GED-equivalent.

Our 45-hour lactation educator series (2018 Dates: 1/20, 2/17, 3/17, 4/21, 5/19) covers basic breastfeeding management, creating and teaching a prenatal breastfeeding curriculum, and touches on all areas of the IBCLE Detailed Content Outline (for those preparing to sit for the IBCLC Board Exam.) Lactation educators work in many settings in our community including WIC offices, hospitals, providing education alongside doula and midwifery care, and as volunteers at Baby Cafe Bakersfield. While lactation educators do not provide hands-on breastfeeding support without supervision, the scope of practice for a lactation educator does position the individual to provide prenatal breastfeeding education to groups and individuals, facilitate breastfeeding support groups, and to advocate for breastfeeding in the community and the public health realm. There are no prerequisites to take this course and registration is just $500.

Becoming a lactation educator can be the first step in your journey to becoming an IBCLC! All candidates for the IBCLC exam, regardless of their background, need 90 hours of lactation-specific education - this series gets you halfway there, plus our curriculum spans the Content Outline. You will be introduced to many areas of lactation practice and research.

Our advanced series (the second set of 5 courses) covers each area of the Content Outline in more detail. 2018 Dates are 6/16, 7/14, 8/18, 9/15, 10/20. If you take all 10 classes, the cost is just $1000.

How Do You Want to Study Lactation?

There’s the old way: learn the information in a classroom and from textbooks, then answer some questions on a quiz and see how much you “know.”

There’s the online way: learn the information by reading course content online on your own schedule, then answer some quiz questions and test your “knowledge.”

Now there’s a new way: A comprehensive, competency-based lactation education and internship program which prepares you for the IBCLC exam while building your skill set and experience to help mothers and babies. We are proud to offer in 2018 the Comprehensive Lactation Internship Program (CLIP.)

Bakersfield Breastfeeds has grown into the California Advanced Lactation Institute!

We are still here to provide evidence-based lactation education to providers who care for breastfeeding families. Now we offer additional resources and opportunities for educating aspiring lactation professionals and other healthcare providers, as well as a searchable bank (under construction) of published research, case studies, practice tools, and photo/video galleries to complement lactation education.

Please contact us if you would like to participate in this exciting project by contributing links to research, photos/videos for which you have consent to use as educational tools, writing guest blog posts, or in any way you feel would benefit this work.

The field of human lactation is ready to take inspiration from other movements which connect across disciplines to improve the level of care everyone provides. CALI contributes significantly to public health by advocating lifelong health through a normal course of breastfeeding.

We provide and curate evidence-based lactation education to enhance your ability to help nursing mothers.

We believe it's simple: breastfeeding education helps mothers make informed infant feeding choices. We collect and share the most current evidence-based information about breastfeeding, and we educate healthcare professionals and the community.

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The information contained on this entire website is presented for informational purposes only and should NOT be interpreted as medical advice.

TO PROVIDE THE BEST, MOST ETHICAL EDUCATION POSSIBLE, WE DO NOT PARTNER WITH COMPANIES WHICH ARE NOT COMPLIANT WITH THE WHO CODE OF MARKETING BREASTMILK SUBSTITUTES. EVER. THE CODE PROTECTS WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN FROM HARMFUL MARKETING PRACTICES AND WE FULLY SUPPORT IT.